1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvements in a turn reservoir which is used in an automotive fuel tank, and more particularly improvements in an induction passage of the turn reservoir.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known that a reservoir in an automotive fuel tank is designed to store a enough fuel so that the fuel supply is not interrupted even if the fuel is biased on to one side of the tank by a centrifugal force caused by turning of the automotive vehicle or the like. Such a reservoir is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Provisional Publication No. 61-57034.
As shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, the reservoir 211 is welded on a bottom wall of the fuel tank 201 and equipped with a reservoir body 213 which is formed in a box-shape so as to store fuel therein. The reservoir body 213 further includes a fuel passage 221 formed of L-shaped to extend along the outside surfaces of side walls 215, 217. An outside wall 223 of the fuel passage 221 is formed so that its upper edge 223a is downwardly inclined and extends toward the bottom wall 203. The side wall 215 of the reservoir body 213 is formed so that its upper edge 215a is downwardly inclined and extends toward the side wall 219. An outlet 225 is defined by a lower portion of the upper edge 215a of the side wall 215 and an inner surface of the side wall 219. A suction pipe 227 of a fuel pump (not shown) is disposed in the reservoir body 213.
Furthermore, returning fuel from the engine is guided into the reservoir body 213 through a return pipe 229 as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Provisional Publication No. 61-59432. With this arrangement, even if the fuel is biased by a centrifugal force caused by turning of the automotive vehicle, the reservoir 211 can hold enough fuel, such amount as indicated by line A or B of FIG. 18.
Accordingly, in order to stably supply fuel into the engine, it is necessary that the reservoir body 213 is formed to have a predetermined volume. However, since the reservoir 211 is usually assembled into the fuel tank 201 through an operation window of the fuel tank 201, the reservoir 211 has to be made small in size so as to be passable through the operation window.
When the inlet 221a and the outlet 225 of the fuel passage 221 are formed so that their lower portions are higher than the bottom wall of the fuel tank as shown in FIG. 18, the reservoir 211 can store fuel while being passable through the operating window.
However, when the fuel in the fuel tank 201 is decreased as its level is lower than the lower portions of the inlet and outlet 221a, 225, the fuel in the fuel tank 201 cannot be guided into the reservoir 211.